Learning from the 'Jewish Experience'

We all are familiar with how Jews survived two
thousand years of persecution and exile. In fact
His Holiness often counsels us to learn from the
Jewish experience. It is on account of this that
l watched 'the Pianist', Roman Polanski's finest
work that fetched him an Oscar. I wanted to watch
it for a long long time. It's a touching movie,
about a Polish Jew, a pianist, whose family
members are massacred by the Nazi Germans, about
how he alone survives against all odds-thanks to
his courage, intelligence and, above all, his
love and passion for piano. I recommend all young
Tibetans to watch it; or perhaps they have
already watched it. I could be the last!

I thought we Tibetans can relate a lot to this.
Our people have also gone through similar
persecution under the Chinese. I was wondering
how humans could become such cruel creatures,
committing genocide, exterminating a whole range
of people - men, women, children, homo-sexuals,
not sparing anyone. The potential for such crime is in all of us!

I am proud we Tibetans have stood our ground and
so far haven't committed such inhuman crimes on
any people! I am proud we haven't strayed from
the principles of non-violent political struggle,
despite being oppressed like hell for more than
fifty years. I am proud we still regard the
Chinese, who kicked us out of our own homes, who
destroyed our way of life, who massacred a more
than million of our fellow Tibetan brothers and
sisters, as humans inflicted with ignorance, and
has the capability to set their courses right. I
am proud that our leader, His Holiness the Dalai
Lama, calls them "our Chinese brothers and sisters."

Above all, I am proud that we are ready to
forgive the Chinese and look for peace and reconciliation with them.

I believe It's all human hatred that creates such
kind of brutal tragedies. While watching the
movie, my blood was boiling with anger over the
way Nazis treated the Jews, so much so that I
wanted to bang on the table. But then I
admonished myself, saying, "well it is exactly
such kind of anger that creates such bloodshed.
One has to negotiate anger, calm it down, control
it, so that one doesn't eventually become a Nazi or a Fascist."

The world definitely needs peace, which is
possible only when we learn to forgive, the way
many Tibetan political prisoners forgave (but not
forgot) their Chinese captors. Is it impossible
to create peace? Does peace really confuse men,
as Bresaies tells Achilles in Troy?

Humans are genius. As the late historian Howard
Zinn, known as the Mahatma of US, once said, "We
have created and invented miracles on this earth. Why can't peace?"

Indeed, why can't we with leaders like His Holiness to guide us in this world?

All it takes for the world is to take a leaf out
of us Tibetans, who have never lost faith in it, in PEACE!